First 150 kWh semi solid-state battery range test clocks 653 miles on a charge as it streamed live from NIO ET7

UPDATE: The semi solid-state battery range test streamed live by NIO's CEO is now complete. It took about 14 hours to cover 652.5 miles on a charge before the test was stopped with the pack at 3%.

William Li drove for the maximum 8 hours allowed under law, while the car was in motion for about 12.5 hours with outside temperatures ranging from -2 to 9 degrees Celsius, with cabin temperature set at 20 degrees Celsius and a load of 190 kg in total. After completing the 1044 km journey on a single charge, Mr. Li commented: 

The completion of this range challenge proves the strong product power of the 150-kWh ultra long range battery pack. This battery is currently the highest energy density battery pack mass-produced globally, with excellent safety performance, and more importantly all (Nio) models on sale can be flexibly upgraded to get this 150-kWh battery through the Nio battery swap system.

Original article continues below:

NIO's CEO William Li has decided to demonstrate the real range of the company's 150 kWh semi solid-state battery pack by driving out from Shanghai until the battery dies, and streaming the whole trip live. They are still on the highway with 30% left and more than 430 miles covered, so the battery may prove its 600-mile range mettle, after all.

The drive is done in NIO's big performance ET7 sedan that is a direct competitor to the Tesla Model S and has been inspired by a recent run in Europe that had the car complete a 3,750-mile trip in 72 hours and 51 minutes thanks to the company's battery swap station network.

Needless to say, the top ET7 trim with the 150 kWh battery won't need nearly as many swaps, but it is the chemistry of the pack that is interesting here. NIO reportedly went to the world's biggest EV battery maker CATL and asked it to make its cells with solid-state electrolyte diaphragm, silicon composite anode, and a high-nickel cathode for longer range on a charge regardless of the weather conditions.

CATL, however, answered that the R&D phase and the new production lines and chemistries will take too much time and money to be as commercially viable as its other contracts like those with Tesla for the Model 3 and Model Y which were piling up. NIO then turned to a much smaller and nimbler competitor - WeLion New Energy Technology - with which it co-developed its first hybrid solid-liquid battery with a class leading 360 Wh/kg energy density.

It was supposed to enter pilot production way back in 2021 while the first vehicles with it were supposed to appear this summer. Cost overruns and production challenges caused a significant delay, but the performance battery pack with more than 600 miles of range seems finally ready for retail judging from all the coffee stops NIO's CEO is making on the way to exhaust the semi solid-state ET7 battery.

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